


You are Your Mother's Child

by k8ydid



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-18 14:39:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1432177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k8ydid/pseuds/k8ydid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Multi-chapter story from Lip's point of view.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sit Still

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s note: Hi everyone! This is my first post at AO and this is my first stab at Shameless. This is going to be a multi-chapter story it’s mostly going to be a Lip introspective. This is a repost from Fanfiction.net. I hope you all enjoy it. My chapter has some spoilers from the preview from episode 4.08, and some of my thoughts on what’s going to happen. Please keep that in mind. I do not know until I see how tonight’s episode goes if my story will continue to follow course with the rest of the season. I’m rating this story T for language, but please let me know if you think the rating should be changed higher? I’m also looking for a beta, so if anyone is interested, please DM me and let me know! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own anything; Shameless is all the creation of John Wells and Paul Abbot.

           

 **You are Your Mother's Child  
Chapter 1: Sit Still  **   

            He had spent the last hour or so counting holes in the drop ceiling tiles above him. He had hoped it would eventually bore him enough to sleep. This had been the alternative to reading different chapters in his textbooks; he ended up getting ahead in his classes and no shuteye. It was the first night all the kids were back at the house with Fiona and Lip felt uneasy. He had tried getting comfortable numerous times in his bed, but he wound up tossing and turning. He was getting use to the lack of sleep, first from the all nighters he was pulling to stay on track in his classes, next waking up during the night to check on Liam, and now because he lost his ability to trust his older sister.

            He ran his hands down his face in frustration. He reached for his phone lying next to him and saw he had six hours until his Monday morning class. He snapped his head back down on the pillow before letting out a heavy sigh. He didn’t feel like he was nineteen, his sorry excuse for a family aged him, no he was definitely closer to thirty than twenty.

            He said fuck it and got out of bed. Heading over to his hamper, he picked up the sack, laundry detergent, quarters, and keys before heading out the door. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about someone taking his clothes out of the washer at this hour.

            He made his way down the hallway to his floors laundry room. For being a freshman floor, and knowing that most of them were up all hours asserting their newfound independence it was surprisingly quieter than his house growing up ever had been. The door to the laundry room was opened a crack. He was surprised to see that he was not the only one doing laundry at this hour. The room was dark but the sound of two washing machines humming filled the room.

            Normally he wouldn’t have taken the time or cared to sort his clothes but he was in no rush and it was the first time he had his choice of machines. After starting the washers, he hopped up on a dryer. He probably should have brought a book to read or something to do but that had slipped his mind when he haphazardly scrambled out of his room at 3:16am. Lip would write this off due to lack of sleep. Even if he had the forethought to have brought something, he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on it.

All of his thoughts lead back to Liam and the care that Fiona was supposed to be supplying him, Carl, and Debbie. She was in a fragile state and he saw her disassociating from the family weeks after Steve had left the picture for a second time. He had pulled a Monica and left with no call or message. Lip shook his head. The last two years now Fiona was making questionable choices, gambling her paycheck away for a promotional bar night when the money should have gone to paying the property taxes, believing that Monica was sane enough to mother their siblings, leaving the squirrel fund unattended when she took up residence in the house, taking Steve back after he left just like their mother, letting Ian run away, cheating on her boyfriend with his drug addict brother and now leaving coke out for their four year old brother to get in.

He wasn’t sure if the pressure of raising the five of them was causing her to unravel or if her failing relationship made her lose touch with reality, but she wasn’t the same person he once looked up to.

Lip was a known hothead but these fights with Fiona had been the worst and most unbearable. It still haunts him when he thinks back to answering his phone and hearing he was receiving a call from Cook County Jail. It wasn’t real for Lip until he got that call after seeing Liam tied down, with all those tubes hooked up to him. He never thought his sister would fall so far from grace. He was ready to make a clean break from her, as he did with Monica and tried to do with Frank. It was more difficult than with his parents because she had taken care of him since he could remember. The betrayal was worse than Monica leaving. The kids still trusted Fiona, not entirely but even still after this stint more than they had ever trusted their parents. He didn’t have anyone to stand against her with him like how he stand with her against Frank and Monica.

If he could he would drop everything and take the kids away from her and become their guardians. But he knew better, he would do a good deal more for them if he stuck it out in college and got a degree than if he returned to Southside. Fiona didn’t have complete guardianship of the kids anyway, it was joint with Frank and with his fathers ailing health it might be harder for him to get custody from her without Frank’s support. 

The only good thing to come from this was that Ian was back at home. With Ian there, there would be an extra set of eyes. That is, if he could kick the coke habit he seemed to have picked up after spending time with their mother and working at strip clubs in boys town. What was it with Gallagher’s and coke?

Most people would not believe it if he had told them this, but besides pot, Lip had never touched drugs. He wasn’t sure if it had to do with the fact he was born addicted to opiates since his mother had been using painkillers the entire time she was pregnant with him or from seeing his parents behavior growing up. He had easy access to the shit if he wanted it but he never messed around with it. And now after seeing Liam, he would never touch anything besides pot, ever.

The angry buzzer from the washer shook him from his thoughts. For the first time since he walked in the room, he took in his surroundings. The two washers that had been running when he entered had a calculus book and water bottle sitting on the one closest to the door. It amazed him that anyone that lived in Chicago would feel comfortable with just leaving their belongs in common areas. Didn’t they know that’s the quickest and most surefire way to get your shit jacked? He could sell that book back to the university for profit.

Lip dropped to his feet and made his way over to the book. He still hadn’t decided if he would steal it, but he could at least read to pass the time. He had already burned bridges with Ron and he waking him up before five am would probably result in an ass kicking he deserved.

 

“Step away from the washer, I have mace and I will use it,” a voice came from behind him.

 

Lip turned on a dime; book still in hand, to face the offended coed. Her arms were out stretched with what would appear to the untrained eye as a handgun, but he knew better.

 

“Easy there Cagney,” He smirked.

 

“Listen up asshole, I’m going to contact campus security,” She threatened or warned, Lip wasn’t all together sure.

 

Normally when he was accused, falsely or otherwise for anything he would flee, but the girl seemed harmless sans for the mace gun she had in her hand and the fact she was blocking the doorway. He could overpower her if he needed to but he didn’t think it was necessary.

 

“I didn’t realize there were stand your ground laws on campus for someone looking at a textbook left in common area,” He retorted before dropping the book back onto the top of the washer.

 

“What?” confusion was etched on her face, and he saw her thumb shift the button on the back of the handle up.

 

“I’m not sure if you realize this but you are living in Chicago now, you can’t just leave your stuff unattended,” Lip retreated back to his original spot, sitting on the dryer.

 

“So you weren’t trying to jack my underwear?” She asked dropping the gun to her side and entering the room.

 

Lip laughed, probably for the first time in months. He couldn’t hold it back. “I hate underwear, just an extra layer of clothing I have to get through”

 

“Pretty cocky for the kid that got shot down by Shelley,” She said more to herself, as she went through the washer. “It’s still all here, either you are my underwear snatcher and didn’t get enough time with the clothes, or you are telling the truth,”

 

“First you come in here guns blazing, treating me like some kind of pervert klepto, and then you make a comment about me and Shelley? Your boarding on stalker status, are you going to have a psychotic break? Do I need to get out of here before you charge me with sexual assult?” He dropped again from the dryer, confrontationally walking into her space.

 

She turned to face him “First of all it’s Shelley and I, and secondly I am her sorority sister. I was there at the party, and like all the other girls, saw you get rejected by her and Robyn,” she picked out the clothes from the washer and moved them to the nearest dryer, and then went back to the second washer.

 

“Are all you sorority girls cunts?”

 

“Excuse me?” She turned and gave him her full attention now.

 

“All of you act holier than thou, in all my interactions with any of you. It’s like collectively you have sticks from the same tree shoved up your bleached assholes,”

She laughed, which really threw Lip off his footing. He was sick of dealing with these spoiled rich girl types, that only he had the misfortunate of associating with. Were there no other girls on campus that didn’t belong to pi beta omega?

 

“Your quick kid, I’ll give you that. But the ‘swagger’ you learned from the shithole you crawled out of, will not work on girls that go here. And not because of the sticks in our bleached assholes, but because we have more self respect and determination than those ratchet chicks you are used to using as your slam pieces,” She smiled at him and than turned to start both of her dryers and sat on top of one of her once occupied washers.

 

He wanted to retort but he knew he was out of his league. He was used to the Southside girls calling him on bullshit, but these girls were speaking a different language than what he was used to. Everything here, school, the girls, his day to day were such a shock to his system. So he stood in place uncomfortably in his skin. He had this uneasy feeling since he got to campus but he hadn’t gotten used to it.

 

“So why are you doing laundry at this hour?”

 

His eyes did a quick scan of the room; she was still the only person there. He turned and leaned against the machine behind him.

 

“If you are afraid of someone snatching your panties, why did you leave the machine unattended?” He countered.

 

“I needed to use the bathroom, and I figured that since it was three in the morning, I wouldn’t have to worry about it,” She shrugged.

 

“So does this happen on a regular basis?”

 

“About every time I was doing my laundry. So I started trying to do it at random times, or times when I thought the least amount of people would be doing laundry. Wednesday afternoons, Sunday nights, Friday mornings,”

 

“Who did you piss off?”

 

“Besides you? No one,” She pulled out her phone from her pocket and frowned. “Shit, I forgot”

 

“Forgot?”

 

“Well from all adrenaline fueled anger of our encounter, I forgot…when I was in the bathroom, I dropped my phone in the sink. It’s dead, that’s why I was gone for so long,”

 

“Let me see it,”

 

She looked at him curiously but handed it over anyway. Lip took the iphone from her and tried pressing the power button. As he expected it didn’t turn on.

 

“I read that if you put in rice overnight, you might be able to save it,” He handed it back to her.

 

“Thanks, I’ll have to try that,” she responded sheepishly

 

“So how were you going to call campus police with a dead phone?” He smirked and she rolled her eyes.

 

“You still haven’t answered my question,” She retorted.

 

“Family stuff,”

 

She nodded her head, not pressing for any other information.

 

“I’m sorry, that I accused you of…”She started to apologize but he waved it off.

 

He was used to it, where he grew up, you were guilty until proven innocent.

 

“Don’t worry about it, “ he was going to continue but his washer buzzed.  Changing his clothes over he was about to start the dryer when she stopped him.

 

“Don’t you use dryer sheets?”

 

“In my family, that’s considered a luxury item,”

 

“Here, use mine,” She tossed the box to him.

 

“Thanks,” He responded taking two out.

 

“You can keep it,”

 

“I don’t need your charity,” He frowned.

 

“It’s not charity it’s a partially used box of drier sheet, I’m a college student. I don’t have much myself. I’m just trying to do something nice okay? Not all sorority girls are cunts,” she winked.

 

“You’re right, just uptight and high maintenance,”

 

“Not high maintenance, high quality,” she quipped back.

“Highly delusional,”

 

“Aw, don’t talk about yourself like that,”

 

“Case and point,”

 

“Beth! There you are, I’ve been looking for you,” an unfamiliar voice filled the room. Both turned their heads to see the intruder.

 

“Oh hey, what’s going on?”  The girl that had been sharing the room with him for the last half an hour responded.

 

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” The guy asked her.

 

Beth looked over at Lip, but her expression was unreadable to him.

 

“Sure,” She hopped off her washer with her book and water bottle. But before she left she turned to him.

 

“It was nice to meet you,” Her voice filled with earnest.

 

“Thanks for the dryer sheets,” He responded.

 

“I’ll see you around,”

 

“Lip,” He told her.

 

She quirked her eyebrow at him but nodded, just as she had when he told her his purpose for doing laundry at the ungodly hour.

 

“I’ll defend your underwear from wrongful doers,” He called after her.

 

She turned around at the doorway and smiled at him “Thanks, see you around Lip,”

 

He watched her leave and felt a slight remorse. He was alone again, just like he had been pretty much his entire time since he got to school. She made him not feel so alone. Maybe he needed to let his guard down with people more often?

            Lip shook his head. Who was this person? What was this feeling, the feeling that was pooling in the pit of his stomach? Hope? This was one thing that he hadn’t felt in a long time.  It was something he had cautioned Carl and Debbie about every time Frank or Monica planted that idea in their heads. Getting hope from another person was never a good idea. People always will let you down. That’s the first thing he learned as a child, and that’s the only constant he believed. Frank, Monica, Karen, Fiona, all let him down. Once you let your guard down you are setting yourself up for failure. No, fuck that, he was better off alone. It’s the only way he would survive.


	2. Ripchord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lip's POV, Multi-Chapter story. Spoilers from Finale, in new chapter. You have been warned!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: After writing the first chapter, I noticed I had guessed some story lines and had been dead on with a few ideas but others not so much. I wanted to watch the last few episodes before writing the next chapter because if it something that would have really altered the story line I wanted to include it, and good thing I watched because something did happen. Anyway, I honestly didn't know where this chapter was going when I sat down to write. The first part I had planned, but the last half just came out as I was writing it. I feel like some parts are a little weak, and I apologize but it's just to carry the story back to where I had planned on taking it.
> 
> Disclaimer: Again, I do not own anything.

**Chapter 2: Ripchord**

The semester was over and Lip was back in the Gallagher household, for the time being. Even with things returning to some semblance of "normal", Lip was still having trouble sleeping. While he had forgiven Fiona, he was still was concerned. She was out of jail, had a job but was still on house arrest. He tried to trust her, though there was a small voice in the back of his mind that she could slip up again, easily. He tried to stay positive for her, as she always stayed positive for him. He didn't want to put too much stress on her because he didn't want her to break. He was thankful for the time off from school. He wanted her to get better.

He set alarms on his phone; just to make sure he was awake in case she didn't wake up for her NA or Al anon meetings on time. He made sure to be home before and after her work shifts. He could tell she figured out his plan. Whenever she questioned him, he just said he was getting ready for next semester, and in truth he kind of was. He never thought he would be the kind of person to prepare for school as it had always come easy to him. However, after the rude awakening from last semester he didn't want to chance it. He found the required readings for his next classes online, bought them off of eBay or amazon for a much cheaper price than the university bookstore and was getting a head start. He would have to return to campus earlier than the rest of his classmates for work-study so he was trying to do as much as he could during his break for school.

Amanda had been a good influence on him, time management wise. She initially was happy that he was taking the initiative to prepare early for the next semester but when she figured out the price it would pay on his social obligations to her, she became annoyed. She had wanted him to come on a summer trip with her, her sorority sisters and their boyfriends to Cancun even would cover his share of the trip. He would have loved to go, to behave like a regular carefree 19 year old would. He wasn't a normal 19 year old. He had to be the glue for a little bit longer for his family. With Fiona's suspicion of bipolar in Ian, her probation, and with him nearly losing his scholarship he didn't want to take any chances. Amanda had admired his dedication to his family initially, but now that it was ruining her plans she had grown tired of it. She wanted to show him off, and he was getting sick of being treated like a piece of meat. He hated the arrangement they had, it grown old. She waved money around him and he had to jump like a lap dog. He had told her he didn't want a girlfriend, she said she didn't want a relationship either but it somehow evolved into a relationship and he still wasn't sure how that happened. Just like how it happened with Mandy. They started fooling around, he made it clear he didn't want anything serious and now here he was trying to break things off with a girl that had forced herself into his life.

He had told Amanda to enjoy her trip to which she made it clear she was done with his "freeloading ass". Soon after he sold the suit she bought him. Not out of spite, but because no matter how many years he could have worn it, he needed the money more. Fiona wasn't making much at her waitressing gig, and ten thousand dollars he got from Amanda's parents would only get them so far. He had school to pay for since he had to use his scholarship money to pay the mortgage and all the back bills and current bills to pay that Fiona couldn't cover. If Amanda hadn't been so demanding of this trip, he would have continued to stick around like a kept pet. But he had realized that would have only been because she helped him monetarily, not because he actually enjoyed spending time with her. She was bossy, and just like Ron, he too would dream of her bossing him around when he managed to get any shut eye.

Lip had briefly entertained the idea of trying to smooth things over with Mandy while he was on break. He would see her during Fiona's shift when he would be over at the Milkovich's trying to coax Ian out of bed. He decided to give up on that idea entirely; things between them were so bent they were broken. The way he had treated her when he came home from school, her boyfriend currently had a bounty on his head and her reaction to him at the diner made it clear that whatever was between them was over. He couldn't blame her, he still wasn't treating her the way he should, as Debbie had pointed out last year. He had only wanted to seek comfort in Mandy. He did not want to be sucked into another relationship. He had too much going on with his family. He had tried to tell Amanda this and it gotten out of control, he was certain that if he had tried to go down that path with Mandy, the same would occur. He sometimes felt the only reason she was interested in him was because he could be her ticket out of Southside and he was tired of women using him for who he was. But he used her too, as a warm body. They had a deeper connection than he and Amanda, Mandy came from Southside, she understood his plight, but she was judging him now. Something Lip hadn't done to her with the exception of her brutal takedown of Karen. It was too screwed up and the damage was done. Their interactions where only about the wellbeing of Ian and he was starting to become okay with that, he needed to be single for a while.

As for Ian, Lip was the most concerned about him. He had wanted to be there for him more than he was able to. Ian staying at the Milkovich house made it difficult. Mickey said that he, Fiona and the rest of the Gallagher clan would take care of Ian but Mickey didn't want Ian out of his sight. Lip agreed with Fiona, they should take Ian to the clinic, or even the hospital but Mickey was too afraid to lose Ian again. Mickey was starting to run on empty between taking care of his baby and Ian, he wasn't taking care of himself. The house had become more of a disaster than it was before, Mandy and her boyfriend, Mickey and Ian and Svetlana and her girlfriend, the other Milkovich brothers and their whores revolving in and out, it was becoming a brothel itself. Lip wanted to at very least bring Ian home, out of that shit show but that would require Mickey to move in, and that was something Lip and Fiona weren't terribly thrilled about.

"I'm still on probation," Fiona had said during one of their late night talks.

That was really all that needed to be said on that topic. Mickey could jeopardize Fiona's probation with his illegal businesses, illegal weapons and the potential influence he could have on Carl, it was just too much of a risk. So for another summer the Gallagher's were going without Ian being in the house. Though he wasn't as far this time, it still felt like something was missing. The whole was greater than the sum of its parts; Lip had learned this time and time again. Unless they were functioning together as a family, they were going to fail. He wanted Ian home and was still trying to convince Mickey. Ian needed to be back in the house before Lip had to go back to school.

* * *

 

Lip was home one afternoon while Fiona was at work. He decided he would not go to the Milkovich's that day. It was just too hard to see Ian lying in bed telling him to leave him alone, day in and day out and Mickey again repeating that he was not letting Ian leave.

Instead Lip was focused on Liam; he still couldn't tell if there was going to be long term brain damage. For being three and going on four Liam had been behind in development before the coke incident. He barely spoke, and he still wasn't fully potty trained. It was possible he already had some type of disorder from Monica using drugs while pregnant, like she had been with each of his siblings; Fiona's little "accident" could have just exasperated the problem.

There was a knock on the door, Lip immediately became anxious. Afternoon visits were never a good thing. It could be the cops bringing Frank home or child services though he had been passing the "surprise" home visits, the military looking to talk to him about Ian, or someone Frank had pissed off. He sat Liam on the couch and scanned the room quickly to make sure there was nothing out that could hurt Liam or implicate the family.

He looked out the window and saw a young woman on the doorstep he had never seen before, Hispanic with blonde hair. Intrigued he opened the door.

"Hi," she smiled brightly at him.

"Can I help you?" He asked still trying to figure out what she would be doing at his house.

"Alessandra Gonzales, DCF" She said holding up a badge. "May I come in?"

Lip hesitated; this was not the normal caseworker for Liam.

"What is this about?" He countered.

"Is Francis or Fiona Gallagher home?"

"Fiona is at work and Frank is in the hospital because he just received a liver transplant," Lip replied clipped.

"I need to speak to a legal guardian of Ian Clayton Gallagher," Alessandra explained. "Do you know how I could contact either of them?"

"I'm his older brother,"

"Yes, but you are not are not a parent or legal guardian for Ian,"

"Neither one of them are here," He countered. "I'm nineteen; I'm the closest thing you have,"

"This is my card, please give this to them when you are able to see them. I need to speak to one of them immediately. This is a very pressing matter. We have tried to contact them numerous times now, and they have been unresponsive to our letters," she pressed on.

"Is he in some kind of trouble?" Lip asked confused, hoping beyond hope that this was in no way connected with the stint he pulled with the marines.

"Do you know where your brother is?" she asked him curiously.

He was really afraid to answer this question, it seemed like a trick. If he said yes, would they take Ian away? If he said no, could they take the other kids?

"He's not here right now," He answered, it was the truth.

Alessandra rolled her eyes "Shocker,"

"Seriously, what is this about, I might be able to help you," he lied. He just wanted to know what the hell was going on. He has never had this much trouble getting a social worker to spill the "confidential" information to him. Alessandra stared at him for a minute as if she was trying to deconstruct him.

She bit her lip and spoke. "This is about truancy; Ian has not been to school in over a year. His former place of employment has not been able to get in contact with him and his parents and guardians have been unresponsive to the school as well as DCF. This is going to become an investigation, one which could lead to jail time for Mr. or Ms. Gallagher if Ian does not turn up,"

Fuck. Shit. Seriously? DCF was on their ass again? What letters? The school has been contacting them? Carl and Debbie hadn't said ANYTHING about that.

Lip opened up his mouth to speak but for the first time in his life didn't know what to say.

"Please give my contact information to your father or sister," She said simply before turning on her heel and walking down the sidewalk.

Lip stood there stunned. Ian was in serious trouble. Ian could end up in jail for military fraud, and Fiona or Frank could be there too for Ian's little stunt and refusal to return to school. The family would not make it if Fiona went back to jail. A misdemeanor while on probation for a felony would send her back for longer than the minimum misdemeanor sentence. He didn't care if his father went, at this point it would probably only help him after the liver transplant, it would ensure he didn't drink. Fuck. Lip went back into the house and began going through the piles of crap in the living room and kitchen trying to find all the "junk" mail they received. He needed to find those letters.

He scoured the house looking for anything from the school, from the county, from DCF and was unsuccessful. If there were letters, they were long gone now. Probably tossed away when Fiona was on house arrest the first time and cleaned the house from top to bottom. He was so frustrated it took everything in him not to throw a punch to the wall. They were never going to get out of this hole. Lip paced the living room, he was growing impatient the longer Debbie and Carl was gone. He found the laptop lying on the floor in the bathroom and ran downstairs. He opened it up and began searching the truancy laws for Illinois. He needed to figure this out. He didn't want to send Fiona into a frenzy when he told her. He wanted to be informed and give her the facts, he didn't want her to jump to conclusions that could set her off again. So he searched and read and he couldn't find real information on what it would do to her in combination with the charges already brought against her. Angrily he slammed the computer shut.

"Woah Lip, don't break it. It's the only computer we have," Debbie warned him. He must have slammed it too hard because he didn't hear the front door open or close.

He jumped at her words. "Where have you been?"

"Out with Holly, what is wrong?" She asked concerned. She hadn't seen Lip this riled up in a while and he never took his problems on her or Carl.

"DCF came by the house today." He told her.

"Where is Liam?" She panicked. "They didn't take him did they? Are they here, are they going to take us?"

She took off up the stairs and Lip chased her.

"No, Liam is still here Debs, they came because of Ian," He stilled her arm when he finally caught up to her on the landing upstairs.

"What, why?" She was very confused.

"He hasn't been to school in a year," He told her.

"So, you didn't go to school while Karen was pregnant."

"Yeah, but that was before Fiona was our guardian and could go to jail. It's a misdemeanor charge but she is already a felon,"

"Well where is he?" Debbie asked.

"Who?" Lip asked.

"Ian? Where is Ian? Didn't you go get him and bring him home?" She was starting to sound as manic as Ian had lately.

"Debs, it's more complicated than that. Mickey won't let him leave and you know I can't fight him and his brothers myself. Ian won't leave on his own," Lip told her. He wanted to go get Ian after he spoke with the social worker but he had Liam and Debbie and Carl weren't home to watch him. He couldn't storm in to the Milkovich household by himself and demand Ian comes home. He had to try to help Fiona and not leave things uncertain for her. He had to form a plan of attack to get Ian to come home.

"Did you even try to talk to Mandy? She could have helped you!" Debbie asserted.

"You know it's not that easy," He told her.

"Well maybe if you didn't sleep with her," Debbie argued.

"Hey, that's not any of your business!" He yelled. "Stop defending her, she isn't a victim!" He rarely snapped at Debbie and he felt horrible as soon as he did it but he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take all of the pressure, being the rock, taking care of everyone, it was all too much.

Debbie stood there staring at him. He could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Go get him!" She demanded, turning her back to him.

"Debs!" He pleaded but it fell on deaf ears, she slammed the door to her bedroom behind her.

That did not go the way he had wanted it to. He was such an idiot, this had been hard on her and Carl too, probably harder because they were just kids and pretty much helpless in this situation.

He sat for a while, weighing his options. Fiona still had a few more hours on her shift. He wanted to try to get this straightened out before she got back. He picked up Liam and carried him upstairs. He knocked on Debbie's door.

"Debs," He said softly.

"Go away!" She called.

"Debs, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You are right, I need to go get Ian and bring him home. Can you watch Liam for me?" He said through the door.

A few seconds later she opened the door with her hands out stretched to take the littlest Gallagher.

"If you can get him home, all will be forgiven," she told him. He could see her eyes were red and swollen from crying, because of her. He felt like shit.

Lip nodded solemnly.

"And if Fiona gets back before I do, please don't tell her. We have to do this carefully," He explained.

She mirrored his response.

He jogged down the stairs, grabbed his jacket. He headed towards the front door and as he opened it, he stopped. There in front of him stood Steve, hand formed into a fist to knock on the front door, midair. Lip froze in place.

"Oh hey, Lip!" Steve greeted.

And before his brain registered his reaction Lip's own fist connected with Steve's nose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, so first I would like to apologize if Lip seems out of character, especially the "fight" with Debbie. I know it wasn't that brutal, I couldn't really think of anything malicious for him to say to her, because honestly he wouldn't. I feel like if he yelled at her, no matter what he said it would upset her. I know he treats both of his sisters pretty good, and you saw him scream at Fiona earlier this season and it always caused her to cry. I don't think he would yell at Debbie this way but I think if he did raise his voice to her, it would startle her. Also, I took some creative license with the truancy part. It is a Class C misdemeanor in the state of Illinois, which can result in 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. This can happen when a student only misses 9 days of school. I am not a lawyer, obviously but I felt that with Fiona's recent incarceration and felon sentence, this could ruin her probation. Also I figure if Frank is the one that gets charged, it could potentially uncover some other crimes he has committed and could keep in jail for longer too. I know they didn't touch upon this when Lip skipped for a while but it showed Fiona calling in for him and making excuses. I don't recall if Ian dropped out, but I doubt he did and with Ian not showing up for a year, even if Fiona did call, the school would get suspicious after not seeing him for a year. In the state of Illinois, you do not have to be the parent or guardian of the student to get charged with truancy, however I did not want for Lip to have to sacrifice himself, he has been through enough. So please, do not send me any messages about how the law, or how I am wrong. It's a story and all stories are part fiction. Plus, if we are being realistic, Frank would have died if they really did take his kidney and they wouldn't have moved him up on the donor list if he was in serious condition, they would have let him die. I know this because I have a friend that watches the show and is a doctor. Anyway, I apologize for this novel of a note. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review, if you so do wish. It helps me fuel the story!


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